The Center for the Digital Future has some interesting statistics about Internet usage in their recent five year report:

• 78.6 percent of Americans use the Internet and

• Nearly two thirds of Americans are connected at home (more have it at work)

More interesting to me is that Internet users are going online without a specific task or destination in mind.

Many of us have changed our approach to using the Internet – from logging on, searching with a specific purpose and turning the computer off to now having the computer on in the background all the time for more immediate access. Users are now treating the Internet the same way that we treat the television. We are now going beyond our needs and clicking on more links with no real agenda or plan of action.

The Internet is serving not only as a form of entertainment itself but an information source that influences how users entertain themselves offline as well.

This is becoming such a trend that movie marketers now have to (or need to) reevaluate their advertising concentrations and give greater consideration to the Internet.

According to the report, “If forced to give up a technology, internet users say that they would be more willing to relinquish their cell phones or television before they would give up the Internet.”

Not to be confused, consumers still love their TV’s but they are using the internet to find additional information about their favorite movies and television shows, proving that there is now a greater opportunity for better integration between the two that marketers need to explore.

Brad Berens, Executive Editor for iMedia writes that:

“The striking new downloadable video market is perhaps the place where it is easiest to see what consumers want, which is media anytime, anyplace and preferably for free. Marketers need to integrate their messages accordingly, and online is the place to start…”

Beren’s article is based on a research presentation that he gave at the 2006 Integrate Summit pitched to movie marketers but his findings can easily be applied to marketing efforts across the board.